Gov't builds anti-hazing task force against fraternity violence

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The government has set up an inter-agency anti-hazing task force to enforce Anti-Hazing law, a senior government official said today.

Executive Secretary Pacquito Ochoa Jr. said that the creation of the task force aims to help address the issue of recent cases of violations of the Anti-Hazing Law and eventually prevent fraternity violence.

The task force is composed of the Departments of National Defense, the Interior and Local Government, the Commission on Higher Education, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, the National Youth Commission and the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs.

"The task force seeks to address the need to ensure that there is justice for hazing fatalities and their families. At the same time, we have to look at whether the law can be improved so that its objectives are met," Ochoa said.

The task force will also review the Anti-Hazing Law, which was put in place in 1995, formulate policies and develop modes of coordinating and monitoring of the implementation of programs, projects and guidelines to prevent hazing fatalities and submit a periodic report to the Office of the President.

Hazing is the practice of rituals and other activities involving harassment, abuse or humiliation used as a way of initiating a person into a group.

The recent victim of hazing in the Philippines was an 18-year- old student of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) named Guillo Cesar Servando, who was severely bruised and died in fraternity initiation rites.